Congress has taken a crucial first step toward protecting the civil
liberties and privacy of innocent people in the United States. On
Jan. 23rd, the Senate voted in favor of the Wyden-Feinstein amendment
to the current omnibus appropriations bill (Senate Amendment No. 59)
which would block the deployment of any TIA program until it has
specifically authorized and appropriated funds. Exceptions in the
amendment allow a TIA program to be used to support a lawful military
operation or a lawful foreign intelligence activity conducted wholly
overseas or wholly against non-U.S. persons, it should effectively
preclude the use of TIA inside the United States against citizens.

The battle now shifts to a conference committee that will iron out
differences between the House and Senate versions of the
appropriations bill (the House version does not contain the
Wyden-Feinstein amendment). Defense Department representatives have
been busy on Capitol Hill defending TIA in briefings to members of the
conference committee. If they are successful, the Wyden-Feinstein
amendment will be watered down or killed.

EFF believes that the amendment is needed to slow down the push for
TIA. The Pentagon is already working with the FBI to plot the use of
TIA programs for domestic surveillance and law enforcement. Further
legislative action will, of course, be necessary to put a complete
stop to TIA and similar initiatives that will vastly expand
suspicionless government collection and use of personal information,
like the CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Profiling System)
program of the Transportation Security Administration.

EFF urges its members to demand that their representatives in Congress
support the amendment, especially those who live in districts
represented by legislators on the conference committee. If the
amendment makes it through the joint committee, TIA will be halted for
now. It's up to you and your Representative; stop TIA!

Links:

Verizon Continues its Attempts to Protect Customer Privacy

As EFFector readers know, Verizon has been waging a furious battle to
protect its customers' privacy. The RIAA has claimed that it should
be able to force Verizon and all other ISPs to turn over all
identifying information about Internet users based solely on the
RIAA's assertion that the person has infringed copyrights. The RIAA
claims that a provision of the DMCA known as 512(h) grants it, and any
other copyright holder, this sweeping new power. This would be a
fundamental departure from the current law, which requires that a
lawsuit be filed with legitimate evidence of actual infringement
before a person's privacy is violated. This traditionally accepted
principle -- that people have privacy until they are proven guilty --
is what the RIAA now wants turned on its head.

On January 30, 2003, Verizon filed a motion for a stay to prevent the
District Court order from going into effect until it had a chance to
appeal the decision. The next day, on January 31, 2003, the District
Court set a schedule for briefs on the question of whether Verizon
should get to keep its subscriber's name private until the appeal is
heard. Under the schedule, a hearing will be held on this issue on
February 13, 2003, at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 21 of the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, DC.

EFF is continuing to monitor the case closely and will participate in
the appeal. We're also keeping an archive of the case.

Winning (DMCA) Exemptions, The Next Round

EFF Hosts Seth Finkelstein's New Primer

EFF is pleased to announce the release of "Winning (DMCA) Exemptions,
The Next Round," a wonderfully succinct guide to the comment-making
process written by Seth Finkelstein, who proposed one of the only two
exemptions granted in the last Library of Congress Rule-making.

Seth's guide explains the process in clear and simple English. The
guide tells you how you can submit effective comments and participate
in shaping copyright law policy. If you are having difficulties making
lawful use of particular digital media because of a technological
protection access control, we encourage you to submit comments to the
Librarian of Congress.

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